If income can simply be defined as what one receives as remuneration for work (professional income), the fruit of capital (movable income), of a rented building (real estate income) or of various lucrative activities (prizes and subsidies), wealth is more complex to apprehend.
In law, heritage has a different scope if we take it from the point of view of private law or public law. Private law defines patrimony as a set of goods belonging to a person, physical or moral.
Whoever decides to acquire a work of art, either by aesthetic desire or by investment, enters a new element in his patrimony. This singular element asks its owner to take care of it by preserving it, by maintaining it or by insuring it, until he has to part with it, voluntarily or involuntarily, for free or for a fee.
As with any asset, it is important to be able to meet two essential objectives in order to guarantee the peace of the families and the prosperity of the investors: the conservation and the transmission of this particular heritage.
In law, an asset is always held by a person, who may be a natural or legal person.
The nature of the holder will define the applicable legal regime from which specific obligations, duties and rights derive. Thus, the assets of a legal person will be governed by different rules if it takes the form of a commercial company, a non-profit association or a foundation, itself public or private.
Matthieu FAIN, avocat, Patrimoine et œuvres d’art – Questions choisies – 1re édition 2016, Larcier.
